Fire and Blood
by GyreHost
Summary: Loki and Sunrise both have pasts full of pain. Loki fought against his, while Sunrise pretends that her past doesn't exist. When these two collide, it can only end in Fire and Blood.
1. Stories

He had fallen from the sky like an angel from Heaven, and now I knew why. I don't think I was supposed to find him, but I did. I don't think I was supposed to befriend him, but I did. I don't think I was supposed to love him, but I did. I know he was supposed to love me, but I don't think he ever did. I died before that could happen. But I don't think I was supposed to tell you that.

He taught me many things, but the most important would have to be the first: Stories will never stay just stories.

 **Hey Guys! So here's the prologue for Fire and Blood. Also, I have a cover for it at long last! :) Please review! :)**


	2. Unconscious

Young women shouldn't wander in dark forests all alone. Sunrise knew this, she just didn't care. She thought that the autumn leaves looked too pretty in the light of the dying sun to be viewed through the windows of her cottage. So she walked, a husky running out in front of her to sniff everything in sight and a reddish mutt padding sedately at her heels.

Sunrise was relaxed, calling out to the husky whenever she disappeared out of sight. At least, Sunrise was relaxed until she heard a yelp from her right and Dusk took off after his female counterpart.

"Dusk! Lupa! Get back here you two!" Sunrise called as she sprinted into the underbrush after the dogs.

Whatever Sunrise had been expecting, it most certainly wasn't what she saw. A man lay in a perfect circle of destroyed forest. If Sunrise hadn't been so distracted by the unconscious man, she may have noticed the designs gouged into the earth, but alas, she was, and so they went unnoticed. Sunrise pushed Lupa away from the man, kneeling next to him to touch his shoulder gently.

"Hello? Are you all right?"

The man gave no indication that he heard, or was even, in fact, alive. Sunrise pressed two fingers to his throat and breathed a sigh of relief when the pulse was strong and steady. Sunrise looked around, murmuring to herself as she searched for some way to carry him back with her. There were no roads for miles and no people for at least twice that. Normally, Sunrise liked her solitude, but times like this made her start to reconsider.

Eventually Sunrise merely shrugged, decided that he was unconscious anyway and picked him up under the arms. As she pulled him along she sent a meaningless prayer of thanks that she was so athletic, because this man was _heavy_.

Pushing the door of her cottage open, Sunrise lugged the man into her home and dumped him unceremoniously on the couch. Then, Sunrise watched him for a moment, wondering what had happened to this man to knock him so thoroughly unconscious. Loud mewing pulled her attention away and Sunrise bent down to pick up a mottled black cat.

"What do you think, Umbra? Do you think it's safe to leave him here, or should I call the cops or something?" 'Umbra' stared back balefully, mint green eyes small in a slightly squished face. "Yeah, I don't like cops either," Sunrise smiled as Umbra leapt out of her arms, settling onto the man next to another cat— her sister, Nox.

Sunrise walked into the kitchen, opening a tin of cat food as her last cat, Luna, walked in with her white-tipped tail high in the air. Sunrise filled up the dogs' food bowls at the same time and moved over to the fridge, grabbing a half-eaten sandwich and taking a bite.

Walking back to the living room she brushed her fingertips against the spines of books that filled one of the two massive bookshelves lining the far wall. Sunrise smiled as she pulled out a well-worn copy of old Greco-Roman mythology. She began to turn away before looking back at the bookshelf and selecting a different book instead— a slightly newer copy of Ancient Norse mythology.

Lupa settled on Sunrise's feet as she cracked open the book, glancing at the stranger one last time before relaxing into a chair across from her mysterious guest and getting lost in the world of Asgard and the antics of Thor and his chaotic brother, Loki. The moon was high in the sky by the time Sunrise drifted off, the book falling onto the floor next to Lupa as the husky jumped up, startled, and walked over to the other dog, who glanced up as Lupa curled up next to him.

 **AN: Look, I'm updating on time! I'm so proud of myself! :) I know that this chapter is short, but they are getting consistently longer, the next one is about four times as long! :) Please review, it really does make me write faster! :P**


	3. Mythology

Loki awoke to a mouth full of fur. He glared at the offending feline who glared back, bored. Loki pushed the cat off of him, scowling as it yowled in protest. Loki was on guard as he took in his surroundings— a small room with a couple bookshelves, a couch, and several armchairs, one of which was occupied by a young woman with long, brunette hair that turned a bright, fiery red halfway down. An archway that led off into what looked like an even smaller kitchen. A hallway with a couple doors on the side and a larger door that looked as though it led outside.

Loki walked towards that door purposefully. When he opened it he paused; stretching out in every direction was a forest. A narrow dirt road led deep into it and a dusty old pick-up truck was parked next to it. A small building stood a few meters away and Loki walked towards it, leaving the door behind him open. The door of the small building was unlocked and Loki walked in cautiously. The soft _whuff_ of a horse drew Loki in— he had always enjoyed the horses in Asgard.

The building— which Loki now realized was a tiny stable— had a single stall, in which stood a tall black horse. Said horse's nostrils flared as it stuck its head over the stall door, large brown eyes staring intelligently at Loki. Loki reached a hand out and placed it on the horse's nose. As he pet the horse's head, Loki noticed a small metal plate on the side of the mare's halter.

"'Oblivion'," Loki read from the plate, "Is that your name?"

'Oblivion' _whuff_ ed some more and nudged Loki's hand heavily. Loki smiled the tiniest bit before frowning at the crunching of leaves outside the stable. Loki moved backward into the shadows as a tall figure stepped into the stable and walked up to Oblivion's stall. Loki recognized the oddly coloured hair as the woman who had been asleep in the house.

The woman spoke, her voice low and calm, "Hey, Beautiful. You wouldn't happen to have seen a man walking around in here, would you?" The horse tossed her head and snorted as the woman reached up to pet her. The woman smiled, "I didn't think so. I really hope he didn't wander into the woods, the poor bastard wouldn't last a day out there."

Loki scowled briefly at the offhand insult and stepped out of the shadows. "And why do you say that?"

Sunrise spun around, one hand clutching her chest in surprise as she stared at the man standing in the shadows. Wide eyes took in the tangled black hair that covered a high brow and sharp cheekbones. Eyes that were too green to be called blue and too blue to be called green glittered in the low light.

At the same time, Loki examined the young woman. A side-swept fringe partially covered bold eyebrows— like two powerful strokes of an artist's brush— while mottled green eyes sparkled underneath them. Full, dark pink lips were parted under a strong nose that seemed almost too big for her face— almost. Although her legs were covered by jeans, Loki guessed that they had the same toned muscles as her arms. She stood at least a half foot below Loki, causing her to stare up at him through dark eyelashes.

Sunrise lowered her hand as her heart slowed down. She leaned back to put a hand on Oblivion's head as the horse nudged her.

"I'm glad you didn't run off," Sunrise said as she extended her hand towards Loki. "My name's Sunrise, what's yours?"

Loki looked at the hand in obvious disdain and Sunrise swiftly retracted it, fighting down a blush.

"I am Loki, of Asgard. What is this place?"

Sunrise's eyes widened dramatically and she reached up to brush away a piece of hair so she could see him better.

"Loki… as in Loki, Loki?"

The man in question raised a dark eyebrow the slightest bit while furrowing the other one, creating a look of elegant confusion. Sunrise wondered briefly if the man had practiced that look in the mirror to perfect it.

"Do you know another Loki? Now answer my question, mortal," Loki demanded as he lifted his chin imperiously, granting him another inch or two on the woman.

Sunrise paused for a moment— in shock or wonder, we may never know— before focusing on the man who had just claimed to be a Norse god from the mythical realm of Asgard of all places.

"My cottage… um, technically my barn— although it's really more of a small stable…" Sunrise broke off as Loki flashed her another look of disdain. "You're a few miles outside of Fish Creek, Wisconsin. Are you all right?"

Loki seemed to almost flinch back the smallest bit before asking, "What are you talking about? Of course I'm all right, why wouldn't I be?"

"Nothing! It's just… when I found you, you were unconscious. When I woke up and saw you were gone, I was afraid you had wandered off and gotten hurt." At Loki's look of curiosity, she continued, "There are wolves and bears in the forest that can get awfully territorial if you go too close to their dens. I was afraid you would get hurt out there."

"How _kind_ of you to worry about me, but I assure you I can take care of myself," Loki sneered.

Sunrise straightened up suddenly, glaring at Loki in indignation. "I'm not trying to be 'kind'"— she added air-quotes— "I just don't want to go on a walk one day and find your miserable corpse lying about! But if you're so sure you can handle yourself out there, be my goddamn guest!"

Sunrise turned and stormed out of the stable, Loki glowering as he followed closely behind the insufferable woman. Loki followed her all the way into her house, this time closing the door behind him.

As he walks into the living room, the daylight streaming through the windows reveals the chaos that he had missed when he'd first woken up. The bookshelves are lined with books, but even more balance precariously on the edge, seemingly daring one to watch them fall. More books crowd a beaten up coffee table. These books are far more worn than the ones on the bookshelf, dog-eared pages and post-it-notes sticking out of most of them. Loki spots a couple notebooks and several packets of typed words covered in scrawling red ink.

Loki glances up as dishes clink together in the kitchen. He moves toward the woman curiously, only to stumble over a cat that has come to twine itself around his legs. He scowls down at the black creature before nudging it with his boot. The cat mewls pitifully but wanders off toward another cat, this one with white socks and tail to break up the black.

In the kitchen Sunrise has set out two plates on the table and is currently busying herself next to a stove that Loki stares at curiously, only to school his features into indifference when Sunrise turns around. Loki smells the sizzle of bacon and frowns deeply when his stomach rumbles in need. Sunrise smiles at him gently before scooping several strips of bacon onto a plate and setting it on the ground. Two dogs race up and begin to wolf it down; a description that seems awfully apt since one of the dogs glares up at him from a gray, wolfish face.

Sunrise sets another plate of bacon on the table and gestures at it saying, "Take as much as you want, I don't eat meat."

Loki stares at her in surprise, no one in Asgard would ever dream of turning down meat. Loki asks, "Why not? Does it make you ill or something?"

She laughs, not high and delicate like the ladies of Asgard, but deep and raspy, ending in an intake of breath that sounds like a gasp. "No, I'm a pescatarian. I don't eat meat, but I'll eat fish occasionally. I don't like the idea of eating something that was slaughtered so it could be turned into chicken McNuggets. There's no honor in that."

Loki watched as her face slowly grew darker, brows furrowing down over eyes that seemed browner all of a sudden and lips that turned down when she finished speaking. Then she smiled at him, bending down briefly to pat the wolf-like dog and straightening to continue what she was doing at the stove.

Loki shook his head in bemusement and picked up a piece of bacon, eating it slowly as he watched the woman scoop eggs into a serving bowl and set it on the table before pulling two pieces of bread out of the toaster and putting them on a plate before sticking two more in. She pulled a tub of butter out of the fridge and set a metal container on the counter next to the toast.

Sunrise stared at Loki for a second as he stood in the middle of her kitchen watching her before pointing out, "You can sit down and eat if you want. I didn't know how you like your eggs so I didn't put in too much salt and pepper. If you want more it's right there"— she points towards two bird shaped containers— "and I usually put basil and oregano on mine, so that's on the counter right now."

Loki followed Sunrise in sitting down and scooped some eggs onto his plate and grabbed a piece of toast, watching as Sunrise dumped enough pepper onto her eggs to turn them vaguely grey. Loki tried a bite before shaking some pepper onto his own eggs— although not nearly as much as the woman in front of him, who was now buttering a piece of toast while pushing a dog's head off of her lap.

Sunrise watched the self-proclaimed god butter a piece of toast and cautiously pick up the metal container of cinnamon-sugar to check the contents before pouring some of it on his toast. When he finished Sunrise grabbed the next two pieces of toast and handed him one before buttering and sugaring her own piece. Sunrise piled eggs onto the toast before taking a huge bite, blushing faintly when Loki stared at her.

"I know I eat like a barbarian, but you don't have to stare," Sunrise defended, looking fixedly at her plate as she chewed on her food with more vigor than was technically necessary.

"That's not what I was thinking, mortal. You eat like an Asgardian, I simply wasn't expecting it. In my experience, the women of this planet eat… slower," Loki responded, his voice the tiniest bit embarrassed, yet still managing to sound superior.

"Yeah, well, I'm not exactly 'most women' now am I?" Sunrise retorted.

Loki made a show of checking Sunrise out before responding, "No, you are most certainly not."

Sunrise blushed faintly, pursing her lips and flaring her nostrils her nostrils, before standing up and dumping her empty plate in the sink. She began clearing the table as Loki finished, putting empty dishes in the sink and letting the two dogs eat whatever remained of the eggs.

"When you're done, you can put your dishes in the sink and come to my study. It's the second door on the right," Sunrise said stiffly as she walked out of the kitchen, Dusk on her heels while Lupa waited next to Loki, her wolfish eyes begging for the last piece of bacon before Loki placed it in his mouth.

Loki glanced down the hallway, noting the open doorway on the right, before scanning the books on the two shelves. His eyebrow raised slightly at the expansive selection; mystery and horror, thrillers and young adult novels, the occasional romance and a vast amount of fantasy. Several dictionaries and reference books occupy a higher shelf on his left.

Loki wandered down the short hallway, glancing down at the husky on his heels before opening a door on the right, withdrawing when it revealed a bathroom. The only door on the left was locked and Loki glanced around briefly before waving his hand to unlock it. When he tried it again, Loki was shocked to find it still locked. He rattled the doorknob for a second before scowling and turning towards the open door on the right.

The door leads to a small room with a window facing past the stable and into the forest. A large desk lays under the window with an open laptop on it. Loki looks around and spots Sunrise sprawled on the wooden floor scribbling furiously on a sheet of typed words. As Loki watches, she pauses for a moment and mutters under her breath before scribbling more, using the red pen to cross out a line and re-write something above it.

Loki clears his throat and Sunrise leaps up, yelping quietly as she stares wide-eyed at him. Loki raises an unimpressed eyebrow and Sunrise ducks her head to hide her growing blush.

"Sorry, I didn't see you there," Sunrise muttered as she stood up.

Sunrise shuffles the papers into a sloppy pile and stacks them on the desk, closing the laptop lid as she does. She smiles at Loki, who stares back skeptically.

"Okay, so the way I see it, you have two options: I can give you a ride into town and you can find your way back wherever you came from," Sunrise started, pausing briefly before continuing, "Or you can stay here until you get back on your feet."

Loki showed no evident signs of surprise, but Sunrise could tell by the way he froze that he was shocked.

"Why would you let me stay here?" Loki asked warily.

Sunrise tilted her head and quirked an eyebrow before answering, "Because I found you unconscious in the middle of the woods and you're claiming to be a Norse god." Loki still looked skeptical. Sunrise sighed and continued, "Just call it my Midwestern hospitality, okay?"

"I still do not understand," Loki responded with a curious tilt to his head.

Sunrise laughed slightly, this time airy and giggly. She shook her head slightly before responding, "Never mind, it's an Earth thing."

Perhaps if Sunrise hadn't been so focused on a plot bunny for her latest book, she would have noticed the growing anger and frustration that was currently making Loki's body tense. But alas, all she could think about was whether she should follow this plot bunny, or her original plan. So, as she walked past Loki to leave the room, she was caught completely unawares when his hand wrapped around her throat and slammed her into the wall.

Sunrise choked out a gasp and wrapped her hands around Loki's, nails digging into his hand and wrist in an attempt to weaken his grip. Loki growled and pressed Sunrise harder into the wall before leaning close. Loki snarled low in Sunrise's ear, his eyes alight with the rush of power he felt by having Sunrise at his mercy.

"You would do well to show me some respect, mortal. I do not understand why it is so hard for you to understand that when I say I am a god, that means I AM A GOD!" Loki roared in her face.

Sunrise whimpered and yelled out when Loki released her, standing back to let her collapse to the ground, coughing. She looked up at him suddenly and stood.

"I apologize if you feel as though I have disrespected you, Loki," Sunrise began, her voice raspy and low, "but something tells me that you don't respect me very much either. So until you can find the _respect_ to apologize to me for what you just did, you can get the hell out of my home."

At Loki's darkened gaze, Sunrise slipped out into the hall and allowed Lupa and Dusk to stand between them, snarling at the threat posed to their mistress. Loki looked down at the dogs and warily walked past them, heading towards the door and walking out of it. Sunrise ran to the door and watched Loki walk into the woods without glancing back at the house.

Sunrise collapsed to the floor for the second time that day and buried her face in Dusk's fur, screaming in rage and causing the cat who had begun to peer around the corner to dart back into the living room.

"I didn't mean to tell him to leave, Dusk," Sunrise said softly, staring into the dogs eyes mournfully. "I want him to stay; obviously he's hurt and angry at something or someone and what do I do? Make him feel like the entire world's against him. God, I've just done to him what EVERYONE did to me." Sunrise began hiccuping, "Does this— _hic_ — make me a bad person,— _hic_ — Dusk?"

Apparently, the dog had no answer for her. Sunrise stood and walked over to the stable to begin the chores she had put off in favour of talking to Loki. As she mucked Oblivion's stall and brushed down the horse, Sunrise couldn't stop hiccuping and staring out at the direction Loki had disappeared to.

 **AN: Hello again all of my beautiful readers! I want to thank everyone who has favourited and followed this story. Please leave a review and inspire me to write more fun shenanigans... or not-so-fun shenanigans depending on how you view this latest development. :)**


	4. Forgiveness

Loki walked through the forest, seething at the young woman's arrogance. She was just like Thor and Odin and all the others! She didn't give a damn about him, she'd probably had some other ulterior motive for giving him the nights rest. Maybe she got off on making people thinking they could stay only to kick them out, it didn't matter.

Loki finally glanced around at his surroundings, only to realize that he had no idea where he was. He looked behind him but saw no clear path back to where he'd come from. Loki shrugged noncommittally and began moving forward again, deciding that it didn't matter; he would find his way out eventually.

Sunrise had almost caught up on her chores, she only had to exercise Oblivion for a while and she could go inside and write until the evening chores. She had a feeling however, that words would not come easily to her; her mind was too focused on the Asgardian god who had stormed into her forest earlier that morning.

After Sunrise had saddled Oblivion, she turned her in the direction opposite from where Loki had gone. The rumble and crunch of a car driving up the gravel road made her turn sharply and steer Oblivion back towards the house.

A black SUV parked next to the pick-up and Sunrise watched as four people climbed out. Lupa ran up and began sniffing one of the asian women while wagging her tail. The other asian woman and a well-toned man stared warily at Lupa while a balding man smiled as he walked up to Sunrise, who dismounted Oblivion and held the horse by the reins.

The older man walks up to Sunrise and extends his hand to shake hers while saying, "Ms. Foster, my name is Agent Coulson with SHIELD and—"

Sunrise swiftly withdrew her hand and cut in, "My name is Sunrise, not Ms. Foster, and not anything else you may have heard. If you have to address me at all, you will address me as Sunrise, got it, _Agent_?"

The harsh bite in her voice caused Dusk and Oblivion to lay back their ears and Lupa to snap at the asian woman before retreating back to her mistress.

"As I was saying, Ms. Sunrise. These are Agents May and Ward."

The asian woman who had been petting Lupa cut in, "And I'm Skye."

The other three agents glanced at Skye, who had the good grace to look at the ground and mutter an apology.

Coulson continued, "We're here about an incident that happened last night. There would have been a flash of light followed by the appearance of a dark-haired man. Did you notice any of that?"

Sunrise pauses, the flash of light doesn't sound familiar, but a dark-haired man appearing out of nowhere makes only too much sense. She opens her mouth to answer before something startling occurs to her.

"How did you find my house? And how do you know my name?" Sunrise takes a step back warily and Dusk and Lupa surge in front of her to snarl viciously at the trespassers.

Coulson smiled again, "I don't think—"

"No, obviously you don't think! If my sister told you anything, you can tell her to beat herself over her head with the stick she likes to keep up her ass!" Sunrise turned back to Oblivion and mounted, glaring down at the SHIELD agents.

"If this guy did magically appear in my forest somehow and I didn't find him, he's probably dead. These woods are filled with bears and wolves that would slaughter anyone that got too close to their den. Sorry I can't be of more help." Sunrise pressed Oblivion forward a tiny bit, forcing Coulson to back up. "Now get off my property before Dusk and Lupa decide to make you leave," Sunrise finished, clicking her tongue as the dogs lowered themselves to the ground and growled.

Sunrise jerked on the reins when Agent Ward pulled out a gun and aimed at the snarling dogs. Skye watched in morbid fascination as Sunrise's face contorts with rage, nostrils flaring and eyes widening while her lip pulls back over her teeth and a growl matching her dogs rips through Sunrise's throat. Coulson waves at Ward and he replaces the gun in his holster and stands at attention. Sunrise relaxes slightly, but continues to glare at Coulson until he gestures the other agents back into the SUV.

"Thank you for your time, Sunrise. I apologize for the intrusion and Agent Ward's actions," Coulson says as he turns to the SUV.

Sunrise says nothing as she watches the car drive out of sight on the gravel road. Once their out of sight, Sunrise dismounts and untacks Oblivion before putting her in the stall. Then, Sunrise turns to Lupa and bends down.

"Lupes, you found him last time, do you think you can do it again?"

Lupa barks happily and puts her nose to the ground before darting off in the same direction Loki had stormed off. Sunrise clucks her tongue at Dusk to follow before chasing Lupa into the undergrowth.

The sky had caught fire by the light of the dying sun when Lupa finally burst through a patch of underbrush to stand in the path of one Norse god. Said god froze in shock and stared while Dusk and Sunrise came crashing through after her. Sunrise bent down and placed her hands on her knees to catch her breath. When Sunrise finally looks up at Loki, he realizes that the primary expression on her face is worry.

Then, she speaks, "Thank the gods you're all right! I thought they'd found you, or you'd been attacked by wild animals." Sunrise pauses to stare at Loki, who is floored by her admission, but refuses to let any of the shock spread across his features. "You are all right, right?"

Loki masters his features into a look of scorn before replying, "Of course I am. Why, were you worried after you demanded I leave?"

"Of course I was!" Sunrise shrieks, flinching as a flock of birds are startled into flying away, cawing raucously. "I didn't mean to tell you leave." Loki raises a skeptical eyebrow and she continues, her words falling over each other in her desperation to get her point across. "Sometimes my mouth moves faster than my thoughts and I was scared and angry, and I'm doing it right now. And I really am sorry! And right now I'm rambling a bit, aren't I? Sorry I do that a lot and—".

Her words are cut off when Loki strides forward and presses a hand against her mouth. She rears back in shock and Loki backs away shrugging nonchalantly.

"I didn't know how else to get you to shut up," Loki responds with a smirk— the type of smirk saying that one knows something you don't and will relish in watching you stumble around trying to figure out just exactly what that thing is.

Sunrise scowls as she mutters, "Yes, you did, jackass".

Loki laughs, a sound that starts low in the hollow of his throat and is carried out of his mouth on great, airy breaths. Sunrise watches Loki warily as he moves closer slowly, eyeing her carefully with each step he takes.

Loki bends down and quietly asks, "Why have you come begging to me? Do you truly regret what you did?"

Sunrise moves back and places her hand on a tree to steady herself before responding, "First of all, I'm not begging. Second, I'm not in the habit of regretting my actions; I can't change them, I might as well accept them instead. Third, I came to find you because I want to know who the hell SHIELD is."

Had Loki spent any less than a millennia practicing a look of disinterest, his shock would have been written for all the realms to see. Loki's eyes narrowed as he scanned Sunrise, seeking to deduce some detail about her that he had missed before, some reason for her to know about SHIELD.

"How do you know that name?"

Sunrise raised an eyebrow. "Because a group of them showed up at my house looking for you."

Loki growled, "What did you tell them?"

Sunrise raised her hands slightly, "Nothing! I swear!"

"Oh really, so you lied to them?"

It was Sunrise's turn to growl as she said, "Of course not; I don't lie. I told them that if I hadn't found you, you would have died. It's not my fault that they assumed that meant I hadn't found you."

Loki smirked again, letting it grow slowly this time, unnerving Sunrise the slightest bit, though she would never admit to it.

"You tricked SHIELD agents? For a man you had recently cast out of your home?" Loki asked, dropping his smirk when Sunrise nodded, slowly, definitively. "Why?"

Sunrise smiled, tilting her head and stepping forward, "Because, I owe the world a debt. It's time that I start repaying it. Don't ask me what that debt is, because I won't tell you; it's none of your damn business."

Loki nodded in acquiescence, shocked by the sudden seriousness he felt coming from the woman who, before, had always given off an air of happiness and childish abandon excepting the brief moment in which she had yelled at Loki to leave.

The trip back to her cottage was silent, the only sounds the crunch of ground underneath their feet and the occasional bark from one of the dogs. The sun had started to set by the time they had gotten back and Loki walked inside the house while Sunrise paused in the stable to settle Oblivion in for the night.

When Sunrise walked back into the house she found Loki looking through the books on the shelves, brushing his fingertips along them the way that only someone who truly loves books does— with reverence and the bone deep knowledge that they are touching something with a power that is mystical and wonderful and ancient and dangerous all at the same time. Sunrise hesitates a moment before disappearing into her room and returning with a book.

Loki takes the book from Sunrise's hands and looks at the cover; "Seraphim" is embossed on the cover while underneath it 'Aubrey Winters' is written in smaller letters. Loki raises his eyebrows and stares at Sunrise curiously.

Sunrise responds, "That is the first book I ever wrote. I published it under the name I had before I changed it to 'Sunrise'. If you're looking for a book to read, I would be honored if you would read that one and tell me what you think of it. I'm always open for more constructive criticism."

The first thing about her little monologue that Loki notes is her voice; uncharacteristically quiet and humble. The second, is the fact that Sunrise just asked him to read a book she wrote and give her advice about it. Loki stares at the woman before him as her hair falls into her nervous eyes and her teeth worry at her bottom lip while she waits for his answer.

"I didn't know you were a writer. What makes you think I even want to read this?"

"Nothing. I just noticed you looking at the books and thought you might be bored. If you don't want to… never mind," Sunrise mutters and turns away.

Loki feels something sharp in his chest and scowls for a second before calling out, "I will let you know what I think of it when I finish with it."

Sunrise doesn't turn around, but a small smile appears on her face and she walks to the kitchen with a bounce in her step to begin finding something to throw together for dinner. And for the first time in a very long time, both members of that little cottage have begun to think that the world may not be so lonely after all.

 **AN: Sorry this is getting put up so late, but I had a pretty jam-packed day. Also, my beta was unable to edit this, so please forgive any grammar errors. I did my best editing, but I almost definitely missed some things. Please leave a review! I adore you guys!**


	5. Freak

Sunrise never imagined that she would end up pushing a cart around Kohl's while a god stared skeptically at a pair of jeans. But that morning had made it a necessity when Loki walked out from his shower in nothing more than a towel wrapped around his waist. Sunrise's sanity and work (but mostly her sanity) depended on Loki covering his torso with _something_. Even now, Sunrise couldn't wipe the image of the mostly-naked god from her mind.

Loki's not so subtle coughing jolted Sunrise from her fantasies and she looked up to see Loki holding out a couple jeans. Sunrise shook herself slightly and put the clothes in the cart before following Loki through the store, uncomfortably aware of the stares that the god attracted to them.

While Loki tried clothes on in the changing room, Sunrise wandered around the store and flicked through a few t-shirts with stupid sayings on them, barely even registering what they said while her mind whirled.

"Um… Excuse me," a voice broke through her thoughts.

Sunrise turned to see a young blonde with jean shorts and a crop top surrounded by a brunette and another blonde whose roots were showing through the dye.

Sunrise raised an eyebrow, "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, are you like, dating that guy?" The dyed blonde speaks up.

Sunrise fights back the urge to laugh, "No, I—"

"Good," the head blonde speaks up. "Because I was about to start pitying the poor guy."

Sunrise rears back the tiniest bit, "What? That doesn't make any sense."

The dyed blonde responds, "Yeah, it does. Any guy that gets stuck with a freak like you deserves to be pitied."

The brunette takes a step forward, "I don't even know why we thought he might be dating someone like _you_."

Sunrise barely hears her, her head is ringing with one word. A word that echoes through her head the same way it always does. A word that she can never escape it seems, no matter how far away she runs. The blonde's voice echoes in her head, becoming distorted as other voices join her in chanting "Freak" over and over again.

Sunrise glares at the trio, imagining a knife being shoved into the blonde's gut. Her mouth would bubble with blood as her eyes widened comically. Sunrise forces a crooked smile easily. Letting one side of her mouth travel higher than the other as she widens her eyes slightly to make them seem slightly crazed. She tilts her head down and stares up through her lashes.

Sunrise starts forcing a laugh for a moment. The girls paused for a second and looked between themselves briefly in confusion. Sunrise stops laughing abruptly and takes a step into the personal space of the lead blonde whom she had dubbed 'Regina'.

Sunrise tilts her head as she speaks, "I suggest you bitches start running with your tails between your legs." She lifts her head to stare at the other blonde, "Because I don't take kindly to being called names." Sunrise steps back and smiles at the girls, "Mmkay?"

The girls back away and start walking off. The 'Regina' pauses briefly to turn back and call, "Psycho bitch!"

Sunrise scowls heavily at the girls before turning, only to yelp and jump back as Loki steps out from behind a rack, glaring at the retreating girls before staring down at Sunrise.

"And what, _exactly_ , was that?" Loki asks, his voice low and ominous.

Sunrise pauses, anxiety rising up in her chest and forcing her throat closed. Her mind instantly whirling to find lies and escape routes. Sunrise's eyes darted briefly to the side before snapping back to Loki as he grabs her chin and forces her to face him.

Loki opens his mouth to speak, but Sunrise cuts him off by saying, "It's nothing. I'm fine. Let's go!" Loki narrows his eyes and Sunrise pulls out of his grip and starts walking toward the check-out. "Let's go check out and head back home; I bet the animals are going crazy."

The entire time Sunrise chats to the cashier and pays, Loki stands behind her and stares at the back of her head, earning him more than one wary glance from the people around them. By the time Sunrise and Loki are on their way back to the cottage, not only has Sunrise's throat closed up, but her chest has begun to hurt and she feels almost as though she is starting to shake herself apart. These feelings are compounded by the fact that Loki does not stop staring at her for a moment.

Sunrise glances at Loki out of the corner of her eye, only to stare back at the road determinedly when she meets Loki's eyes. She tries for a moment to relax, but immediately tenses back up when she imagines the intensity of Loki's gaze burning into the side of her head.

 _"STOP STARING AT ME! I can't think and I feel like I'm going to fall apart right now. Those girls were just being grade-A bitches and I overreacted, no big deal. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry—"_ Sunrise screamed inside her head, the words coming like mallets that attempted to break her into pieces.

Her grip tightened on the steering wheel and she felt like crying in relief when her driveway came into view. Loki's stare turned into confused concern as Sunrise's breathing got heavier and more erratic. He turned his gaze to her neck and was surprised to see the tension there, her heart beating so rapidly that he could almost see the pulse in her throat.

Sunrise threw the car into park and wrenched the door open, sprinting towards the house as Loki climbed out of the car and stared after her. Loki walked towards the house swiftly; concerned, but unwilling to run and look like an anxious idiot— he had been raised better than that.

Sunrise ignored the barking of Dusk and Lupa and sprinted into her room, slamming the door shut and locking it behind her. She stumbled toward the nightstand by her bed and yanked a drawer open. She picked a tiny object out of it and stared at it for a while, falling to the ground and gasping for air.

"Why am I freaking out?" Sunrise muttered, cradling the object in her hands as she spoke to herself. "He was staring at me! And? What else? Those girls… reminded me of… you-know-who. I know, sweetheart, but is that really a valid reason for this? You haven't seen her in ages and you probably never will again. It hurts! Just make it shut up!" A knock on the door startled Sunrise and she stared at it, jumping slightly.

"Sunrise, unlock the door and let me in," Loki's voice called. Sunrise shook her head and opened her mouth, no noise making it out however. Loki's voice comes from behind the door again, "Sunrise, let me in. Tell me what's going on!"

Sunrise clenches her hands, gasping as the tiny razor blade she's been holding cuts into her palm, but ignoring it in favour of covering her ears with her clenched fists. Sunrise begins to murmur the lyrics of a song, her voice so soft, it was a cross between singing and desperate whispering. Her voice shakes and she flinches as she feels blood leak down the right side of her face from the cut on her palm.

Sunrise lets out a tiny shriek when hands pull her fists away and unclench her bleeding hand. Sunrise stares up at Loki's emotionless face as he picks up the blade and tosses it to the side, examining her palm before looking at her. Sunrise flinches and glances away.

Loki stood and walked away, kicking the blade further out of Sunrise's reach as he did so. As Loki walked out of the room in silence, Sunrise fell onto her side and curled inwards, replacing her hands over her ears as tears slip out of her eyes while she squeezes them shut. Inside her head, Sunrise imagines that she is screaming, letting the sound rip out of her throat for all to hear. But in truth, when Loki walks back into the room with a first aid kit located under the sink, she is laying prone on her side, staring at nothing and everything.

Loki kneels down in front of Sunrise and pulls her hands away from her ears once again. He then proceeds to pull the woman into a sitting position. Sunrise continues to stare at the wall behind while making tiny whimpering sounds, not unlike the ones heard from a wounded animal.

Loki bends down close, forcing Sunrise to look at him before he speaks, "Stop wallowing in self-pity and focus." Sunrise's eyes focus almost instantly, widening in shock at Loki's callous words. "Give me your hand," Loki orders, holding his own out imperiously.

Sunrise lays her injured hand in his and watches in wonder as he cleans it. She winces and attempts to twist away as he uses an alcohol wipe, only for Loki to tighten his grip and glare at her until she stops. Loki's hands are warily gentle as he wraps a bandage around her palm and ties it off.

Sunrise yelps as Loki picks her up effortlessly and sets her on her bed, sitting down in front of her as she scrambles backwards into the pillows and curls her knees into her chest. Sunrise wraps her arms around her legs and sets her head on them, sniffling quietly.

Loki stares at Sunrise for a moment, his face carefully guarded against emotion before he speaks. "Are you going to tell me just what that was?"

Sunrise looks at Loki, her face the exact opposite of his— raw with emotion and vulnerability. She looks down at her bandaged hand before touching it gently.

"Why?"

"Why what, Sunrise? Answer my question," Loki's voice was slowly growing harsher, and Sunrise flinched back in response to it, making no other movements after that. Seeing that he would get no response from the near catatonic girl, Loki answered her question, "You were bleeding all over the floor. You're no use to me if you're unconscious from blood loss."

"I'm sorry," was Sunrise's only response. "You were never meant to see that. Thank you for…" Sunrise trails off and raises her bandaged hand pointedly. Sunrise's voice is surprisingly strong and her visage shockingly calm when she says, "I'd really appreciate it if you'd leave me alone for a little bit, I need some time to think, Loki."

"Time to think, or time to cut your other hand open?" Loki's eyes narrow suspiciously.

Sunrise looks up at Loki in shock, her mouth falling open slightly. Her eyes dart over Loki's face frantically before her jaw clenches and she grits her teeth, nostrils flaring as her nose scrunches up.

"Get out," Sunrise forces out between clenched teeth.

"Excuse me—"

"You heard me. Get the hell out of here," Sunrise barked. When Loki made no move to leave, she screeched, "Get out! I don't want you here!"

Loki lunged forward slightly, his hand coming to clutch under her jaw, not enough to cut off her air supply, but tight enough to show that he could if he so choose. Sunrise's eyes widen and her hands come up to clutch Loki's arm, not making any attempt to pull his hand away, but just holding it there.

"I am not going to leave when you are in danger of hurting yourself. So you'd better get that through your thick mortal skull, Sunrise. Now, I suggest you tell me exactly what you were thinking when you decided it would be a good idea to gouge open your palm," Loki growled, his face so close to Sunrise's that she could feel his hot breath wash over her face.

"I don't know," Sunrise's voice is barely a whisper and, had Loki not had the hearing of an Asgardian, he would have needed to lean in closer to hear.

"Well try," Loki replies, pausing briefly as Sunrise's eyes begin to glitter with tears. "Please."

"I'm a freak and a monster," was the reply that caused Loki to jerk back and release Sunrise, who curls back into herself.

When Loki recovers, he leans back in and pulls Sunrise's face out of her knees. "What could possibly make you a monster or a freak?"

Sunrise pulls away from Loki and stares at a spot on the wall behind Loki's shoulder. "Bad things happen around me. I don't mean to and I don't try… but those around me get hurt."

"How so?'

"When I was little, I had a puppy. I was playing with him outside and I got distracted. Next thing I know, he's lying dead in the road. I caught my boyfriend in college sleeping with my best friend. Next week, he's gotten into a car accident. And…" Sunrise broke off suddenly, surprising both of them when she gasps out a sob.

Loki leans in slightly, "And…" he prompts.

Sunrise bites her lip, struggling against a block in her throat that threatens to choke her. "Fiancé," she forces out. "My fiancé and I had a fight a couple months before our wedding. I can't even remember what it was about, but it was bad. The next day, the bank that he was at got robbed… he died." Sunrise is crying in full force now, "The last thing I ever said was that I wished he had never proposed. His family blamed me. He died because I got in a fight with him. It's always my fault."

Sunrise's voice is quiet, Loki has leaned forward throughout her story and cups her face in one hand, looking at her with an expression that Sunrise can't bother to puzzle out. Then Loki pulls Sunrise into his arms and holds her tight, not saying anything as her crying turns into outright bawling.

"I'm a monster," Sunrise forces out between sobs.

Loki jerks back and glares down at Sunrise, grasping her shoulders and shaking her briefly once.

"No you aren't," Loki barks forcefully. "I have seen monsters, I know what they look like and you are most certainly not one of them. I don't ever want to hear you call yourself that again, do you hear me?"

Sunrise stares at Loki before leaning forward and collapsing into his arms, allowing her head to rest on his chest while Loki cradles her. She nods into his chest and Loki holds her for what feels like hours, until her crying subsides and her breathing evens out into the long, slow breaths of sleep. Loki lays her down on the bed and shoos the dogs out of the room before closing the door behind him.

He walks into the living room and notices a book laying open on the floor. Picking it up, Loki sees that it is a book on Ancient Nordic mythology. He smiles as he sits down on the sofa to read it, absentmindedly stroking the cat that jumps onto the couch to curl up next to the god. Throughout Sunrise's nap, Loki pays only half attention to the book and cat, the rest of it devoted to any and all sounds coming out of Sunrise's room.

 **AN: I know that this is a tiny bit late... sorry, I had a really crazy busy day. In other news, I just wanted to warn you guys that the next chapter might be a little late because I'm moving! Yay -_- Basically my dad decided that it would be a good idea to move us to Tokyo... because that's totally what normal people do. :P So I move this Saturday and I haven't had time to finish Chapter Five with all of the packing and preparation and writer's block derived from the fact that every time I sit down to try and write, I end up writing about things that have absolutely no place in the story. :( Anyway, I've kept you long enough, so now I'll let you get back to your regularly scheduled lives. I just wanted to warn you beautiful people. Thank you for reading! :)**


	6. Aftermath

Sunrise awakens to moonlight streaming through her window. She feels a brief moment of calm before the previous events come flooding to the forefront of her conscious and she burrows into her pillow in shame. Thoughts race through her mind, the vast majority centered on how much Loki is going to hate her and believe her to be weak. Sunrise feels no tears, despite the overwhelming need to cry (an occurrence that is relatively normal, in spite of the waterworks she demonstrated earlier that day).

Sunrise curls into herself under the covers, content to stay there for as long as she can. The meow of a cat startles Sunrise into poking her nose above the covers— she could have sworn her room was empty earlier. There is no cat in sight, but the malachite eyes of a certain god glimmer down at her.

Sunrise squeaks and dives down again. Embarrassed rage fills her as Loki chuckles above her before pulling the covers off. Sunrise screams— a shamefully high sound that is far too girly for Sunrise to ever admit it came from her. Loki laughs again before sitting on the edge of the bed and staring at Sunrise with intimidating seriousness.

"Are you all right?"

Sunrise blushes and looks at her arms instinctively before remembering that they are unmarred this time. Concern tickles at the back of Loki's mind when Sunrise doesn't respond and he follows her gaze to her arms. The tickle becomes a pinch and Loki grabs Sunrise's arm, forcing her eyes up to his.

"Are you all right, Sunrise? You slept in," Loki bluffs, carefully keeping all emotion from his face— not even the smallest micro-expression gave away his thoughts to Sunrise's scrutinizing gaze.

"I… slept— Oh god, the animals!" Sunrise starts, rising up out of the bed, only to stumble as black spots fill her vision.

Loki pulls her back down to the bed and grabs her shoulders to keep her from rising again. "Don't worry, I took care of them," Loki explains.

Sunrise stares at Loki in wonder, "You… But how on Earth did you know what—"

"I paid attention to you yesterday. It wasn't that hard," Loki scoffs, looking mildly offended at her doubt.

Sunrise stumbles over her words, "Oh, no, I didn't— I mean, I don't…" She takes a deep breath and shuts her eyes for a second before opening them and refocusing. "I was just shocked that you paid attention well enough to know exactly what to do."

Loki smirks and stands from the bed, allowing Sunrise to follow him and walk out of the room. Sunrise's first stop is the kitchen, where she notes the lack of dishes in the sink and happily wagging tail of Lupa as she munches on a bowl of food. Nox and Luna look up at her from the counter where they are enjoying a bowl of cat food while simultaneously preventing Umbra from being able to jump up there with them.

Sunrise nods slowly in satisfaction, before heading out towards the stable to inspect Oblivion. Loki follows behind, bemused and only slightly insulted at her doubt. Sure enough, when she gets to Liv's stall, the horse is happily munching away at a small pile of hay and only looks up for a second when the two walk in. Sunrise turns to stare at Loki in apparent shock.

Loki frowns huffs indignantly, "I'm glad to see you believe in me so much."

"It's not that, really. It's just, it took me almost a month to remember the exact right amount of hay for Oblivion, and it looks like you got it on your first try."

"I've been around horses before," Loki states dryly.

Sunrise nods mutely and heads back towards the house.

"Have you fed yourself yet today?"

Loki shakes his head, causing Sunrise to nod hers once, sharply, and head straight to the kitchen once they reach the house.

Sunrise busies herself pulling items out of the fridge and the cupboards frantically, steadfastly ignoring Loki and keeping her eyes on the things directly in front of her.

Loki takes a step towards her, but she flails a hand his way briefly before saying, "NO! Just- stay there. Please, don't come any closer."

Sunrise's voice shakes towards the end and she clenches her hand before drawing it towards her chest. Loki watches impassively as she shakes herself violently and moves to pick up a metal pot, only to drop it with a loud clang. Sunrise flinches back and Loki walks across the kitchen to grab her shoulders.

As Loki spins Sunrise around, she struggles, tossing her head and flicking wild eyes everywhere but at Loki. The briefest emotion flickers over Loki's face before he locks it away and wraps his arms around Sunrise while she cries. She clutches the god's shirt and buries her face in his chest, muttering something unintelligible.

Loki pulls Sunrise's face away from his chest and looks down at Sunrise's tear streaked face. Sunrise continues mumbling in a near-catatonic state, her eyes staring at nothing while her hands clutch at Loki the way a child clutches her mother.

"I'm sorry," Sunrise murmurs. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"

Loki stares at Sunrise while she repeats the same two words over and over in a desperate mantra. Loki continues to stare while Lupa and Dusk walk up to Sunrise and whimper against her legs. Sunrise seems not to notice as she presses closer to Loki, continuing to mutter.

Loki sighs and bends down suddenly to hook Sunrise beneath her knees, lifting her up against him. Sunrise yelps and clutches to Loki, pausing her apologies in favour of staring at Loki in shock. Loki ignores her and carries her to the couch, the dogs following close behind.

As Loki sets her down, one of the cats jumps up and lands on her chest, pinning her to the couch effectively. Another cat leaps up on her legs, while the third (this one completely black, except for the pale yellow eyes) leaps up onto the back of the couch and stares Loki in the eye.

Loki bends down and brushes hair out Sunrise's face, revealing bloodshot, green eyes. Those same eyes stared at Loki, pleading and anguish in equal measures staring up at him. Loki sighs again and bends down to kneel next to Sunrise.

Lupa nudges Loki's side as he asks, "What are you sorry for?"

Sunrise hiccups suddenly, her entire body jolting and causing the cats to lash their tails. She shakes her head, not wanting to speak, unable to vocalize the whirlwind thoughts rushing through her mind.

Loki grabs her face in one hand and forces her to look at him. He repeats his question and Sunrise allows one more tear to fall.

"I'm sorry because I'm a mess. You deserve someone who doesn't fall apart because of the dumbest things. I'm sorry because I'm supposed to be helping you, but I can't even help myself," Sunrise whispers, her breath brushing over Loki's face gently, while her eyes lower to the ground to avoid his own piercing gaze.

Loki doesn't say anything, he simply stands and walks to the kitchen, leaving Sunrise to curl up on the couch and hiccup a few more times. A wet nose pulls Sunrise out of her ball and she looks up to see Dusk's snout inches from her face. The red dog licks his mistress' face and then pulls away, tongue lolling as he stares at her with a silly dog grin on his face.

Sunrise smiles faintly and starts sitting up, displacing Luna and Umbra, who jump up to sit next to Nox on top of the couch. The dogs follow Sunrise to the kitchen where she leans against the door watching while Loki puts away all the things Sunrise had pulled out in her desperation.

Sunrise makes no sign that she's watching him, and Loki makes no sign that he's heard her come in. Sunrise leans against the side of the door and watches Loki straighten from putting the last pot in its place in the cupboard.

"Thank you," Sunrise murmurs as Loki turns toward her.

Loki shakes his head gently and examines Sunrise as he steps closer. "Are you feeling any better?"

Sunrise nods her head vigorously, "I'm fine, thanks." She smiles up at Loki, her eyes remaining dull despite it.

Loki sighs inwardly and walks past Sunrise, leaving her to turn and follow back to the living room and watch him settle on the couch with a book. Sunrise watches for a moment more before walking into her study, sitting at her desk and patting the head that Lupa rests on her lap. Dusk settles on her other side and blinks big brown eyes up at her.

Sunrise sighs and pulls a thick transcript towards her to continue editing. Her red pen marks up the paper as she murmurs the words on it under her breath. Her attempts to edit are foiled by a loud rumble coming from her stomach. Sunrise looks down in shock, only to remember that the last time she ate was before the Kohl's misadventure.

Sunrise sets her transcript aside and walks back through the living room into the kitchen, glancing at Loki while she walks past.

Loki looks up and watches Sunrise walk into the kitchen only to stick her head out a second later and say, "Well, aren't you hungry?"

Loki raises an eyebrow and follows Sunrise into the kitchen as she smirks and ducks her head back in. When Loki enters the kitchen, he's greeted by the sight of Sunrise humming while she pulls a couple bowls out of a cupboard and sets them on the table before turning to dig through another cupboard.

Loki opens his mouth to question her, but is interrupted by Sunrise turning around with a colourful box in hand. "I hope you don't mind cereal; I don't really feel like cooking anything right now." She smiles apologetically and sets the box on the table next the bowls.

Loki stares between Sunrise and the 'cereal' box before picking the box up and examining it. "Cinnamon Toast Crunch" is written on the front in a bright, happy font. On the back is a bunch of wiggly drawings and more writing. Just as Loki starts reading the writing, Sunrise snatches the box out of his hands and opens it, dumping a bunch of brown, sugary smelling squares into one of the bowls.

Loki watches in fascination as she pours milk out of a plastic container and sticks a spoon in the food. Loki follows suit when Sunrise turns a raised eyebrow at him. When Sunrise turns her back, he gives the mixture in his bowl a skeptical sniff, shrugging internally when it refuses to raise any immediate flags. Loki sticks a spoonful in his mouth, eyes widening comically when the sugar melts on his tongue.

Loki freezes as Sunrise's laugh permeates the air in the kitchen. He looks at her to see her smiling widely, her throaty laugh exploding from her chest. He scowls at her and sits in a chair, watching as she happily pets Dusk with one hand and eats cereal with the other. Sunrise notices Loki's stare and looks at him curiously.

"What happened to you? Less than an hour ago you were hysterical, and now you act as though nothing happened?"

Sunrise's smile fades slightly, "I got hungry, it's no big deal."

"That doesn't explain anything," Loki points out.

Sunrise stands angrily, "Look, I can spend ages being mopey and depressed, or I can get over myself and be useful. That's all it is." She moves to leave the kitchen, but Loki grabs her hand as she passes him.

"You are avoiding the situation. It's not healthy," Loki says almost mockingly.

Sunrise yanks her hand away and glares at him. "Oh, and you have such healthy coping strategies, Mr. I'm-going-to-throttle-you-for-no-well-explained-reason!"

Loki watches apathetically as Sunrise storms out of the kitchen and heads to the stables. He follows her out, the dogs at his heels and the bowls still on the table, the cereal starting to disintegrate into the milk.

When Loki finds her in the stables, she's already got a saddle on Oblivion and is working on tightening the girth. Loki knocks gently on the door to her stall, causing Sunrise to leap in the air and clutch her chest. Loki laughs as she turns to glare at him.

"What are you doing, Sunrise?"

She continues tacking Oblivion as she speaks, reaching past Loki to grab the bridle on the stall door. "I'm saddling Oblivion for a ride, I've been neglecting her lately and she's getting antsy." She pauses suddenly and turns to Loki. "Would you like to ride her?"

"Why would I want to ride the horse?" Loki asks with a raised eyebrow.

"You said you had experience with horses. Prove it, hotshot," Sunrise says, slipping the bridle on Oblivion and looping the reins in her hand.

Sunrise walks out past Loki as he mutters, "Hotshot?"

Sunrise smiles and leads Liv to an old stump that's been converted into a mounting block just outside the stables. She pulls the stirrups down and stands next to Liv by the mounting block, staring at Loki pointedly. He sighs and hangs his head, not wanting to piss off his host again and incite another episode.

Loki mounts the horse and Sunrise hands him the reins, gesturing widely at the surrounding clearing.

"Ride her wherever you want, she knows her way around. Try not to go too far, or you might not make it back before dark, and there really are wolves and bears out there," Sunrise calls as Loki nudges Liv forward with his heels, the mare far more responsive than most of the war horses Loki was used to riding.

Sunrise turned back to the house and walked into her study, only Lupa following her while Dusk waited outside for the return of Loki and Oblivion. Sunrise plops herself down on her chair in the study and stares at the transcript for a few minutes before sighing loudly and dropping her head on top of the papers.

A tickle on her cheek wakes Sunrise and she lifts her head to see Luna staring at her with wide, dark eyes. Sunrise starts and looks out the window, shocked to see the red light of the setting sun filtering through the trees. Sunrise stands swiftly, causing Lupa to yelp as the chair bumps into her.

Sunrise shouts apologies over her shoulder as she rushes into the kitchen and pulls the dog and cat food out of the closet. Lupa waits impatiently as Sunrise pours the food into her bowl and sets it down. The cats swarm in as Sunrise fills their bowl. She leaves the animals to their food and goes to the door, opening it and allowing Dusk back inside from his vigil.

As Sunrise walks to the stable, she keeps an eye and an ear out for Loki and Oblivion, but receives no sign of them. She frowns as she makes her way into the stable and sets Liv's hay and grain in her stall. Sunrise proceeds back to the house, intending to edit more of her story, but only succeeding in wearing a hole in the carpet with her pacing.

Sunrise shrieks as she trips over Umbra, who had decided that walking across the living room carpet was a solid idea for some reason. Sunrise groans from her spot on the floor and turns to glare at an irate Umbra, who stalks off with her tail held imperiously high. Sunrise stands slowly, rubbing her hip where it slammed into the ground.

When the front door creaks open, Sunrise forgets all about her hip and races to greet Loki as he walks in. She stares at him with an expression close to wonder on her face. Loki stares back, confused as to why Sunrise seems so shocked to see him.

"Do I have something on my face?" Loki asks dryly.

The wonder on Sunrise's face fades to embarrassment and she ducks her head briefly.

"What the hell took so long, I thought you'd been eaten alive out there!" Sunrise retorts.

Loki raises an eyebrow mockingly, "I didn't know you cared."

"I don't," Sunrise proclaims swiftly. "At least, not about you. But if you'd been eaten alive, Liv would probably be hurt as well. That's all."

"Right," responds Loki, unconvinced. "'That's all'."

Sunrise huffs and glares at Loki while she asks, "Did you untack Liv and put her in her stall?"

"Yes," Loki says, in the way that a child responds to an annoying parents' question.

Sunrise nods determinedly and storms towards the kitchen, Loki following behind with a bemused expression on his face. Lupa and Dusk look up at the two from the living room carpet as Sunrise stalks by, Loki on her heels, holding in his laughter.

Loki watches from the archway separating the living room and kitchen while Sunrise punches buttons on the stove. She then moves toward the freezer, opening it and pulling something out that Loki stares at in heavy confusion.

Sunrise holds it up to Loki and asks, "Have you ever had frozen pizza?"

Loki shakes his head and Sunrise smiles, prepping the pizza and setting it near the oven to wait for the appliance to beep in readiness. Loki watches Sunrise put the pizza in and press a few more buttons to set a timer.

When Sunrise moves to sit at the table, Loki follows suit. He watches her fiddle with her fingers for a moment before breaking the silence.

"What's the occasion?" Loki inquires.

"What are you talking about? What occasion?" Sunrise asks, confusion obvious in her voice.

"You don't make… 'pizza' very often, do you?" Sunrise flushes under Loki's knowing gaze and returns to staring at her shifting fingers.

"I just didn't feel like cooking anything tonight, okay?"

Loki shrugs and continues to watch Sunrise in tense silence until the timer beeps and Sunrise rushes to snag the pizza out of the oven. The smell assaults Loki's senses and he feels his stomach clench in anticipation.

When Sunrise turns around with two plates of cheese pizza, only a thousand years of restraint keeps him from ripping them both from her hands and devouring the delicious food. As she places the plate in front of him, Loki painstakingly picks a piece up, mimicking Sunrise as she takes a bite out of her own pizza.

The moan that falls from Loki's lips is entirely unexpected from both parties and they stare at each other in shock and bewilderment before Sunrise laughs, putting a hand up to cover her mouth. Loki glares for a second before her laughter catches on.

The pizza is quickly devoured with Sunrise only barely managing to score a third piece from Loki's greedy hands. The cottage is filled with the peaceful end of their happy laughter as Loki moves to sleep on the couch again and Sunrise heads towards her bedroom, a room that Sunrise had expressly told him to stay out of before her breakdown- A rule that Loki had felt necessary to break.

Sunrise turns off the lights in the living room, but turns to stare at Loki's form resting on the couch, a blanket over him. She smiles and leaves, whispering four words into the still air.

"Of course I care."

 **AN: So I missed a week. During that week, I moved to Tokyo, Japan, had orientation at my new school (which included picking classes) and began settling in to my new room. I also failed to upload Fire and Blood and for that I am ever so sorry. I hope you can forgive me and that you enjoyed the chapter. Please review, you guys are starting to make me think no one's actually reading this story. :( On another note, I should be able to post the next chapter on time, but I do start school tomorrow, so if there are delays (which there shouldn't be) that is why and I am ever so sorry! :)**


	7. Chores

Loki sleeps in the next morning. When he awakes, it is to the smell of bacon and the loud barking of the two dogs. As Loki stretches on the couch, he notices one of the cats watching him, its white-tipped tail twitching slowly.

Loki greets Luna with a "Hello" as he walks past her, the cat staring at him warily.

When Loki walks into the kitchen, he is met by Sunrise pointing to a plate on the table. Loki sits and eats slowly, watching Sunrise finish cooking the bacon and place most of it on a plate for the two dogs, who quiet their barking to wolf down the crispy meat. The rest of the bacon lands on Loki's plate and he nods gratefully at Sunrise.

"Did you sleep well?" Sunrise asks as she sits in front of her own food.

"Do you ask out of courtesy or because you care to know," Loki replies, placing the tiniest bit of stress on 'care' in remembrance of their conversation last night.

Loki stares at Sunrise, trying to figure out if he had imagined the four tiny words that Sunrise had spoken the night before. She gives no signal that she does when she shrugs noncommittally and returns to her food. In fact, had Loki not been so adept at reading people, he would not have noticed the slight flaring of her nostrils and the tiny intake of breath.

The rest of their meal is silent except for the sounds of cutlery clinking against plates and the occasional whimper from the dogs. Sunrise finishes first and puts her plate in the sink, turning to talk to Loki when he stands to do the same.

"Today's Saturday," she begins, drawing Loki's attention. "That means I do a big house clean-up; dusting and vacuuming and all that jazz."

Loki stares at her slowly. "I'll stay out of your way," he replies, walking towards the living room.

Sunrise stops him, reaching out to brush against his arm before pulling away swiftly, causing Loki to stare at her with a raised eyebrow.

"You're going to help, mister," she states, cocking a hip and folding her arms together.

"Really, is that so?" Loki smirks disbelievingly.

"Yeah, it is. You're not exactly paying rent, so you can at least help clean up after yourself. Since you've probably never done any actual cleaning, you can clean all of the animals' stuff," Sunrise states, ignoring Loki's slowly forming glare. "That means I need you to give both the dogs a bath, and clean Oblivion's tack and stuff like that. I'll give you a list," She finishes, walking towards the study.

Loki follows, glaring carefully at the back of her head.

"And what makes you think I will do any of these things?"

Sunrise turns suddenly, almost causing Loki to crash into her and smirks.

"Because if you don't, I might end up too busy to make lunch and dinner. Of course, if you want to go hungry, be my guest!" Sunrise smiles widely and walks into her study.

She returns a moment later with a list of chores and hands it to Loki, smiling.

"If you need help with anything, just ask."

Loki scowls as she walks away, swaying slightly as she begins to hum an unfamiliar tune.

Loki looks down at the list, reading all the chores. There weren't many, about five or six, but they looked completely unfamiliar and Loki had no idea how to do any of them. Looking up at the direction Sunrise had gone, Loki pondered going to ask her to explain. Shaking his head angrily, Loki told himself that he needed no help from anyone for anything.

Loki looked at the list again and decided to start with the one that sounded easiest- bathing the dogs. Loki already knew how the bath worked- Sunrise had shown him that the day after he'd arrived, claiming that he 'smelled like the wrong end of a skunk' (whatever that is). Loki turned the knobs and began to fill the bath. Once it had reached an acceptable height, he turned the faucet off and went to find one of the dogs.

Lupa was curled up on the rug in the living room when Loki found her, the god pausing to wonder how he was supposed to get the dog into the bathroom. Lupa lifts her heavy head to stare at Loki curiously as the god begins to march towards her. Loki leans down and grasps Lupa by her collar, the dog yelping as he begins to drag her to the bathroom.

Loki manages to drag the struggling husky to the door of the bathroom before she yelps and wriggles free of his grasp. Sunrise races over at the sound of the commotion and stares at Lupa, who runs to hide behind the woman's legs, her tail dragging to the floor.

"What the hell is going on here?" Sunrise exclaims, staring at Loki in bewilderment.

Loki scowls at her before answering coolly, "I am trying to do what you told me to. Is there a problem with that?"

"Yeah, you're scaring the crap out of my dog!" Sunrise exclaims without malice.

Sunrise smiles and walks toward Loki, leaving Lupa to run for some other hiding place. Sunrise walks into the bathroom, Loki glaring at her all the while, and begins to laugh.

Loki's glare intensifies as Sunrise beckons him into the bathroom. He walks in to find her standing next to the tub. Loki remains silent, choosing instead to glare heavily at Sunrise, expecting her to shift uncomfortably and curling his lip the tiniest bit when she continues to seem oblivious.

Finally, Sunrise herself breaks the silence, saying, "When you're bathing a dog, you don't fill the tub up."

"Then what, pray tell, do you do, Oh Knowledgeable One?" Loki asks mockingly, feeling secretly foolish.

"Step one: Lure the dog of choice into the bathtub with a treat. Step two: It's more of a shower than a bath, really. I'm not actually sure why we call it a bath," Sunrise states, tilting her head slightly and furrowing her brow in thought.

Sunrise bends down next to the tub and pulls the plug out of it, allowing the water to begin swirling down. Unbeknownst to her, Loki begins to smirk as he notices her position bent over the side of the bath, legs lifted into the air and swaying slightly, and takes a step towards her.

Sunrise lets out an almighty shriek as Loki scoops her up by grabbing underneath her legs and stomach and dumps her into the still-draining bathtub. She emerges from beneath the water and glares at the god of mischief while he chuckles at her soaked appearance.

Sunrise scowls at Loki and climbs out with as much dignity as she could muster. Loki stops laughing and looks at her warily as Sunrise steps closer. Loki flinches as Sunrise leaps at him and wraps her arms around him in a massive hug. Loki squirms away and Sunrise lets him go, laughing wildly at the irritated expression on his face.

"That's what you get for dumping me underwater," Sunrise laughs. Then, she pouts playfully and plucks at her soaked t-shirt and mutters, "I hate wet clothes."

"And you think that I do not?" Loki grumbles, glaring at Sunrise.

"Why don't you go change your clothes, Loki. I'm gonna go do the same," Sunrise says, still smiling broadly before disappearing into her room with a towel from the rack on the wall.

Loki watches her leave, his glare lessening as he grabs another towel and moves to change his clothes. By the time Sunrise emerges from her room, Loki is dry and waiting.

When she returns, Sunrise has produced a bone-shaped dog treat from somewhere and hands it to Loki. He glowers at it before leaving the room to find a dog. Sunrise follows after him and shows him how to wave the treat in the air and coo at Dusk until the dog follows blindly.

While Loki 'bathed' the dog, Sunrise stood nearby to show him where the shampoo was (under the sink) and how to direct the shower head so that the soap and water didn't get in the dog's eyes.

Once Dusk is released, Sunrise returns to her own chores while Loki hunts down Lupa. Soon after, music filters through the house from a boom box that Sunrise keeps in the corner of the living room. The sound of rushing water momentarily drowns out the music, but when Loki turns the shower off, another sound is layered on top of the soft country music.

Lupa whimpers at the door and Loki opens it to let the wet dog race out into the cottage. Loki follows behind the dog to see Sunrise dusting a bookshelf, singing along with the tenor of the country singer. Lupa's barking interrupts Sunrise and she twists to look down at the dripping dog.

Sunrise laughs and takes a step back, shooing at Lupa playfully. "Go join your mate outside, Lupa; you're soaked!"

The dog yaps happily and races down the hallway slipping out through the one-way dog door to join Dusk outside.

Loki speaks up then, "Sometimes, I think those animals understand you, Sunrise."

Sunrise scoffs and looks at Loki, a sparkle in her eye. "It's because they do, Loki. Animals understand a lot more than we give them credit for."

Loki smirks and shakes his head as Sunrise goes back to dusting, not singing this time, but humming gently and swaying her hips in time with the music. After a second of staring, Loki turns to follow the dogs outside to the stables to check off the next chore on his infernal list.

Over an hour later, Loki returns to the house to find Sunrise standing outside it with a basket and Dusk laying at her feet. As he approaches, Loki raises an eyebrow and Sunrise smiles in response.

"You worked hard today," she begins. "I thought you might enjoy exploring the forest so that you don't get lost in it anymore."

"I do not get lost," Loki replies with a playful grin.

Sunrise laughs, throwing her head back slightly and smiling broadly. "In any case, I feel like having a picnic. What do you say, Loki?" She asks, holding the basket up.

Loki smiles, nodding his acquiescence. Sunrise smiles and grabs Loki's hand impulsively, pulling him after her as she heads towards the forest, calling for Dusk and Lupa to follow them.

Sunrise leads them along a deer trail, continuing to grasp Loki's hand as though she's forgotten it's there. As the woman maneuvers them through the forest, Loki glances at their joined hands, feeling uncomfortable for a moment before he smiles inwardly, appreciating the human contact, even if he refuses to admit that fact to anyone, including himself.

Sunrise yelps as she trips over an upturned stone and Loki is pulled from his thoughts as his grip tightens around her hand and he pulls her back up towards him. Sunrise stares up at Loki with wide eyes, her mouth parted as she gulps in panicked breaths to lower her heartrate.

"Are you alright?"

Sunrise nods and backs away from Loki. "I'm fine, I was just startled for a second there. Thanks for not letting me fall," She adds, almost as an afterthought.

Loki nods, examining her to make sure that she truly is fine, despite her words of assurance. Sunrise starts moving along the trail again, waving Loki to follow.

"Come on, it's just around this bend," she calls over her shoulder.

Loki follows his feet stepping lightly and his hand feeling oddly empty. As they round the bend, Loki pauses staring at the sight while Sunrise continues moving forward.

It's a clearing, the trees bordering it as if they are afraid or unwilling to grow in this place. A small brook trickles along the far edges, several trees dipping their roots in, the way a child will kick off its shoes and dip its toes in the water, squealing madly. Smooth stones line the bottom of the crystal clear brook, and wildflowers line the edges. The grass in the clearing is long and soft and a bright green that shimmers in the sunlight.

Sunrise sits down on the grass and waves Loki over, not speaking, as though to say a word would break the magic of this place. Loki sits next to her on the grass. Dusk comes over and lays his head on Loki's lap, content to watch his mate run along the perimeter of the clearing and play in the water, barking joyously.

Sunrise hands a sandwich that she has pulled out of the basket to Loki and grabs another for herself. She places the basket between the two of them and opens it to show Loki what else she has packed for their picnic. A bag of chips and a Tupperware container of fruit lay next to a couple bottles of water and a bag of homemade chocolate chip cookies. Loki stares at the latter, wondering when she possibly could have had time to make those.

Sunrise sees him staring and smiles with a hint of mischief glittering in her eyes. Loki takes a bite out of his sandwich and his eyes widen when he tastes meat. He turns to stare at Sunrise and she shrugs noncommittally, turning back to her own food. The two continue to eat their food, neither saying a word, simply reveling in the serenity of the forest clearing and the comfort of the other's company.

They eat leisurely, barely making it back to the cottage before the world has turned completely dark. No words are exchanged as Sunrise puts the basket in the newly cleaned kitchen and Loki lays down on the sofa. Sunrise glances back at Loki as she leaves the room. The god stares back at her and she ducks her head and turns off the light.

Sunrise utters words, her voice low and raspy with a combination of sleepiness and underuse, "Goodnight, Loki. Thank you for your help."

Loki waits until she is gone to reply, "You're welcome."

 **AN: I missed another week. I am so sorry. Updates might end up slowing down to every two weeks. I'm trying, but new schools are really effing hard to adjust to, no matter how many times you're at one. :) Anyway, this chapter is mostly filler and bonding, but next chapter, the excitement starts picking up! :) We're going to find out more about Sunrise's past! :) Once again, please review, I really like knowing that people are actually reading this story. Thanks!**


	8. Birthdays

Since the impromptu picnic a week ago, Loki had relaxed considerably. Sunrise too had become much more comfortable; music filtered through the house at almost every hour of the day and Sunrise could often be found singing and dancing along to the song of choice.

At this moment, Sunrise could be found dancing around the kitchen awkwardly, attempting to keep in time with the music without hitting the walls or Nox- who had decided that she wanted to stand right in the middle of the kitchen. The dinging of the stove causes Sunrise to start and stare at the appliance as though she'd forgotten it existed.

Loki enters the room just as Sunrise pulls a circular pan out of the oven and places it on the counter. The sweet scent of chocolate cake fills the tiny cottage and both inhabitants breathe deeply. As Loki steps closer, Nox darts away into the living room and vanishes under the sofa.

"What's the occasion?" Loki asks as he breathes deeply.

Sunrise smiles up at him widely, a childish joy lighting up her eyes.

"Guess what day it is!"

"I'm not guessing, Sunrise. Just tell me." Despite Sunrise's obvious enthusiasm, Loki remains impassive.

"Ugh, fine!" Sunrise concedes, hanging her head. "It's my birthday!"

Loki stares at Sunrise with his eyebrow raised the tiniest bit, nothing else on his face betraying any emotion.

"Congratulations," Loki replies, his voice holding the tiniest bit of warmth.

"Thanks," Sunrise replies, visibly calming down and relaxing. "Sorry, I always get really hyper when I bake cake," she says, ducking her head apologetically. Sunrise lifts her head and looks at Loki conspiratorially. "It's 'cos I sneak some of the sugar," she whispers, grinning broadly.

Loki smiles in appeasement and Sunrise laughs lightly. Loki watches as Sunrise pulls out a cooling rack and tips the cake onto it. As Sunrise begins to make the frosting, Loki returns to the living room to read his book; another of Sunrise's, this one a science-fiction novel about an alien lost in an alternate universe.

Sunrise glances over at Loki, stretched out on the armchair, and smiles, pulling the beater out of the fresh batch of sugary frosting. She walks over to Loki and holds the beater out to him.

"What is this?"

Sunrise laughs, "It's the beater from the frosting. Do you want to lick it?"

"Lick it?" Loki asks, his brow raising.

"Yes! Like this-" Sunrise pulls it back and licks a big streak in the frosting, humming with pleasure at the taste.

She holds it out to Loki again and he stares at it warily before taking it slowly. Sunrise watches, amused as Loki cautiously licks the frosting, his eyes widening as the treat melts on his tongue. Sunrise turns around and returns to the kitchen, leaving Loki to swiftly (but regally) lick the beater clean.

When Loki walks into the kitchen a few minutes later, Sunrise has almost finished frosting the cake and laughs at Loki's obvious glances toward the frosting bowl. Loki glares at Sunrise as she laughs and the woman smirks challengingly back. But, before Loki can make any sort of move against her, someone knocks at the door, Lupa and Dusk barking madly and racing through the hallway.

Sunrise and Loki look at each other in confusion before Sunrise walks to the door and Loki ducks into the study, looking out the window in there to see a surprising visitor.

Sunrise opens the door and freezes at the sight on her porch. She leaps back a step as the woman at her door tries to pull her into a hug.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sunrise asks, her voice icy and her breathing accelerating.

"I'm here to wish you happy birthday, Aubrey," the woman replies. Sunrise's breath hitches and she steps back inside the door. "Aubrey, please-"

"That's not my name," Sunrise replies, deadly quiet.

"Right, Sunrise. Why would you pick that name; it's sounds so silly," the woman says, stepping inside. Sunrise darts backwards, staring at the woman with a mixed expression of horror and rage.

"You're not wanted here, Jane," Sunrise bites out.

Jane Foster turns to look directly into the eyes of her little sister, seeming to take in for the first time how angry Sunrise is.

"Why not? I just wanted to say 'Hello'," Jane tries.

"You've said it, now leave," Sunrise replies, her voice shaking with the effort to stay calm.

"But, Sunrise-" Jane tries.

"GET OUT!" Sunrise shrieks, pushing at Jane's shoulders.

Dusk and Lupa jump into action as well, snarling and barking at the woman. Jane's eyes widen and she moves towards the door.

"Aubrey, stop this, right now. You are acting like a-"

"Like a what?" Sunrise snarls. "Like an idiot? A weirdo? A _freak_?" Tears spark at the edges of Sunrise's vision and she sucks in a deep breath to stay calm.

Lupa has circled back around to Sunrise and presses her great head against the woman's legs. Dusk has stopped barking as well, but remains staring at Jane guardedly.

Loki moves from his hidden spot behind the door of the study and steps fully into view of the two girls. Sunrise turns and stares at him, wide eyes glittering with tears that the young woman refuses to shed.

Loki steps up beside Sunrise and rests his hand gently on her back, watching as she leans into him, allowing a couple tears to escape down her cheeks. Loki looks up at Jane, who stands open-mouthed at the pair.

"I think it would be best if you left," Loki says, turning away with Sunrise.

Unfortunately, Jane refuses to leave without having the last word.

"Who the hell is this? Why is there a strange man in your house?" Jane shouts, Sunrise tenses under the onslaught, but refuses to say a word. "Aubrey Foster, I am talking to you!"

Sunrise snaps suddenly, twisting out of Loki's grip and lunging at her sister, an almighty shriek tearing its way out of her throat. Clawed fingers lash at Jane, and the older woman yelps, backing away rapidly and holding her arms up to ward off the raging Sunrise off.

Loki steps forward and wraps his arms around Sunrise, holding the struggling, screaming and sobbing woman against his chest as he glares at Jane. Jane turns tail and runs out the door, slamming it shut as Dusk and Lupa snap at her heels. Sunrise's cries quieten as the sound of an engine fires up and tires crunch against the gravel outside.

The second that Loki releases Sunrise, she stumbles into her bedroom and begins to rifle through her drawers. Loki follows close behind and calls out to the distraught woman.

"Sunrise, what are you looking for?" Loki asks, his voice calm and soothing.

Sunrise stares up at him, her eyes are damp, but no tears fall from her lashes. She opens her mouth, but nothing comes out. One hand comes up to her other arm and her finger flicks against the skin rapidly before she turns back to her nightstand.

Loki steps forward again and pins Sunrise's arms to her sides just as she lifts a tiny razor from the back of one of the drawers. Sunrise struggles and screams as Loki sits down on the floor, pulling her with him.

Loki pries the razor from her grasp and reaches up to put it on the nightstand, holding Sunrise tightly against him and shushing her the whole time. Sunrise still refuses to cry, her eyes wide and wild with panic. Her breathing is becoming more and more rapid, until Sunrise seems to choke on her own breath.

Loki presses one hand against her mouth, forcing her to breathe through her nostrils. The woman does so, nostrils flaring widely as she tries to suck in breath around the god's large hand. After a moment of this, Sunrise's breathing has calmed down and, though shaky, she is no longer hyperventilating.

Loki waits until most of the tension has left the woman's body before asking, "Why do you do it?"

Sunrise takes a deep breath and stares up at him, her eyes seeming more blue-grey than green at this distance.

"I don't know why…" Sunrise begins, Loki straining to hear her low murmur. "Have you ever felt like your mind was falling apart, and you can't think or see or do anything other than clutch your head and hope that your mind doesn't explode with all the madness swirling through it?"

Loki stares at Sunrise for a moment for replying simply, "Yes."

"It helps. It's like all the madness, all the pain and uncertainty and everything just flows out; like every drop of blood is a crazy, painful thought leaking into the atmosphere, never to bother you again… That's why," Sunrise finishes, burying her head into Loki's chest.

Loki is silent, holding Sunrise against him as she takes deep, slow breaths, trying to calm down. When she finally lifts her head again to look at Loki, it is with dry eyes and a slight frown. Loki stares at her a moment longer before he stands, pulling Sunrise with him.

Sunrise gasps and stumbles against Loki as he rises with her, staring at him in confusion. Sunrise clings to Loki's shirt and allows him to sit her down on the bed. Loki sits next to her, watching as she plays with her fingers in her lap. When Sunrise begins to murmur and twist her fingers around even faster, Loki reaches over and places one large hand over hers.

Flinching away, Sunrise stands from the bed and begins pacing frantically around her room. Loki watches unabashedly as she goes from one wall to another, carefully avoiding the blade on the nightstand. Her steps are only just slow enough to be considered a walk and her breathing has gotten harsh.

Scratching at the door causes Sunrise to jerk backwards and stare at the door in terror. Just as Loki begins to stand, Sunrise relaxes and moves towards the door, opening it to allow a meek Lupa into the room. When Sunrise collapses to the ground next to Lupa, Loki tenses almost microscopically and leans toward her. Sunrise starts shaking and buries her face in Lupa's fur, Loki watching as the dog twists to lean her dark snout against the woman's shoulder.

Loki merely continues to watch until Sunrise starts screaming. Loki steps forward and sinks to his knees behind Sunrise, placing one hand in her hair and stroking slightly—the way Frigga had done for him when he was a child. Sunrise leans into Loki's hand and releases Lupa, the dog whimpering quietly in concern and watching as Sunrise looks up at Loki, her mouth parted slightly and her eyes filled with vulnerability.

"I love her," Sunrise mutters, horrified with herself.

Loki says nothing, merely tilts his head and looks at Sunrise with confusion.

"Jane. I hate her, but I love her. I want her to leave me alone forever, but I don't want her to get hurt," Sunrise babbles, searching Loki's eyes for compassion. "I want to hate her so badly, but I can't," she pauses. "I just can't."

Loki stares down at the woman, shocked at how swiftly she was able to go from brave and furious, to terrified and broken. Sunrise begins to shrink away and Loki softens his expression, not realizing that his eyes hold none of the ice that was so typical of him. It was this fact that caused Sunrise to freeze and stare at Loki's face in wonder.

Confused at her expression, Loki seeks to break the tension by asking, "Why do you want to hate your sister?"

Sunrise is silent for a moment, causing Loki to doubt his inquiry for a second. When she responds, it is not with the words that Loki had expected.

"I was a daddy's girl," she begins, pausing for a loaded second to organize her thoughts. "He was a professor of astrophysics at Culver University. I loved him; he was always there for me. I remember once he let me pick the answers for a test; he gave me one of the answer sheets and let me colour in whatever bubbles I wanted and he made those the correct answers." Another pregnant pause lingers in the air. "He died 12 years ago to the day."

Loki cut in, confused, "But today is-"

"My birthday, I know. It's why Jane showed up, no matter how many times I chase her away. She feels that the 'family' should be together," Sunrise replies emotionlessly. "Of course, our mother never bothers with the 'family' crap." At Loki's curious expression, she continues, "She blames me for his death."

"Why?"

Sunrise turns back into Loki's chest to hide for a breath. "Because I watched him die."

Loki says nothing for a moment, merely watching as Sunrise keeps her forehead pressed against Loki's chest, her hands moving to fiddle with the hem of his shirt. Sunrise takes long, slow breaths to keep from crying. When he does speak, the words shock Sunrise.

"Is that the debt you owe the world? The death of your father?"

Sunrise stares at him, remembering the conversation that had taken place weeks ago before answering with a nod. Loki goes silent again, waiting for Sunrise to finish her story.

"Jane is my mother's pride and joy; talented, intelligent, a brilliant astrophysicist just like our dad. My mother never really had time for me, it was always Dad who helped me with homework and stuff. My mother wanted me to go into math or science like Jane and my dad, but I've always loved the arts."

Loki shifts slightly and Sunrise moves away, startled. Loki leans his back against the side of the bed and pulls Sunrise's back against his chest, settling her between her legs. As Loki leans his chin against her head, Sunrise sighs and relaxes against him.

"After my father died, I went to college for Creative Writing," Sunrise says, closing her eyes. "And I fell in love. His name was Jack Winters. He was going to school for the medical sciences at the same university as me. We dated for three years and were engaged for about five months. Three months before the wedding day, he was shot and killed," Sunrise chokes the words out, the bridge of her nose starting to burn with the pain of unshed tears. "I buried him on the day I was supposed to marry him."

Loki pauses, his brow furrowing. "Before, you said that he died in a bank robbery."

Sunrise squeezes her eyes shut. "I know," is all she says.

Loki tightens his arms around Sunrise and she grabs one of his hands, clinging to it desperately as tears fill her eyes. Loki pulls Sunrise close and buries his nose in her hair, shushing her gently as she starts to cry.

"I had published all my books using his last name. Then I moved here, where no one knew me and I could be Sunrise; the quirky young woman who lives out in the middle of nowhere. I tried to forget him, but it's hard to forget the person you were going to spend the rest of your life with." Sunrise stops, her story finished, and curls up against Loki's chest, the tears drying in her eyes.

Loki stares at the young woman, shocked at the amount of loved ones she seems to lose. As the silence stretches out, Loki closes his eyes, taking a deep breath to calm himself before he begins his own story.

"I was adopted," he begins. Sunrise leans her head back and looks at Loki, only to see him staring out above her head. She remains silent as he continues, "My mother taught me everything she knew about magic and fighting. My brother, Thor, and his friends laughed at me whenever I wanted to train with them as a child because I was too 'small and weak'. Odin used to tell Thor and me that 'both of us were born to be kings', and yet, it was obvious that he favoured Thor. A couple years ago, Odin declared that Thor would be king."

Loki's arms tense around Sunrise spastically and she gasps quietly in surprise. Loki's face darkens as he lets himself fall into his memories.

"Thor was a fool. An arrogant, belligerent fool. He would have brought Asgard to ruin. I had to do something," Loki proclaims, his voice taking on a unique quality of distress. He stares down at Sunrise, begging her to understand. She says nothing, but leans back into Loki's chest, relaxed and willing to listen. Loki lowers his head and rests his chin atop hers.

"I snuck a small group of Frost Giants into the Weapon's Vault during Thor's coronation. They killed the two Einherjar in there and attempted to steal the Casket of Winters before being killed as I intended. Thor was furious, he wanted to attack the Frost Giants; make them pay for trying steal the Casket. Odin refused him—Thor wasn't king yet; the intrusion had stopped that. I had hoped that it would stop there, that Odin would see that Thor was unfit for the crown, but still he couldn't see Thor's idiocy.

"I tricked Thor into going to Jotunheim with his friends and me. I told a guard to go to Odin; we were never supposed to make past the Bifrost, but Heimdall allowed us through almost immediately," Loki's words come faster in his desperation.

Sunrise pries one of Loki's hands free from the death grip he has around her waist and holds it in two of her own, tracing lines on his palm with genuine fascination. Loki stares down at her, watching her fingers brush softly along the creases of his battle-worn hand, pausing at every little scar and blemish to memorize them with her touch.

Calm again, Loki launches back into his tale, "In Jotunheim, I tried to get us out without a fight, but one of the Frost Giants insulted Thor and the fool attacked him, instigating a full blown battle. During the battle, one of Thor's friends was touched by a Frost Giant and burned." Loki pauses and closes his eyes before saying slowly, "So was I."

Sunrise reacts, tensing and twisting to look up at Loki, asking, "Were you hurt? Sorry, stupid question, of course—"

"No, I wasn't," Loki cuts in. Sunrise stares at him in confusion, but says nothing. "I wasn't burned, but my skin turned blue. Odin showed up soon after and brought us back to Asgard. Odin sent the others to the healers and banished Thor to Midgard. Later that night, I went to Weapon's Vault and held the Casket, watching my skin turn blue. Odin showed up and—" Loki stops, unable to continue. "And he told me what I was. I'm not Asgardian at all; I'm a Frost Giant, a monster. Odin took me from Jotunheim as the spoils of war. A stolen relic. Soon after, Odin fell into the Odinsleep and I was king regent. I lured the king of the Frost Giants, Laufey—who also happened to be my birth father—into Asgard and killed him. I then turned the Bifrost on Jotunheim to destroy that bastard realm.

"Thor stopped me by destroying the Bifrost, but we ended up hanging off the edge of the Bifrost bridge, Odin holding onto us by Thor's foot. I tried to make him understand… I just wanted him to see that I was an Asgardian, just like Thor and him and everyone!" Loki stops talking for a moment, his eyes closing to prevent the tears from leaking out. Sunrise says nothing, pressing her head into Loki's chest until he continues.

"They let me fall into the void. I should have died, but instead I landed in the realm of a being called the Other. He and his master… persuaded me to take over Midgard, causing what you mortals call the Battle of New York five months ago." Sunrise nods in understanding before allowing Loki to continue. "I failed and Thor brought me back to Midgard. Being sent here was my punishment. Odin took my powers and sent me to die on this planet."

Sunrise stares at Loki intensely, searching for something in his eyes. She bites her lip harshly before asking, "How did they 'persuade' you?"

Loki tenses behind her, staring down at Sunrise in shock.

He narrows his eyes at her and whispers, "What exactly are you asking?"

"Did they torture you, Loki?" Sunrise asks, her eyes still searching his.

Loki stands suddenly, causing Sunrise to fall back before catching herself. She looks up at him dispassionately, waiting for his temper to explode. The tension in the air breaks when Loki leans down slightly to sneer at Sunrise.

"Yes, they tortured me. Is that what you want to hear? That they broke my mind and body more times than I can count, then released me on this pathetic realm and watched me wreak havoc. Is that what you want to hear?" Loki's voice does not raise, but his rage is evident in the way his brows furrow and he bares his teeth more than necessary when he spits his words out at her.

As Sunrise climbs slowly to her feet, she is struck by just how expressive Loki's eyebrows become when he gets emotional. Shaking her head at the errant thought, Sunrise steps forward towards Loki. The god tries to back away, but Sunrise wraps her arms around him and holds him tight, her head barely coming up to his collarbone.

Loki struggles at first, but finally relaxes when he realizes that Sunrise has no intention of letting him go. He refuses to respond to her hug, electing instead to stare down at her in wonder.

"I'm sorry, Loki. I shouldn't have asked, but some things you need to hear straight out. It's no excuse, but I hope you can forgive me," Sunrise mutters, not lifting her head from Loki's chest as she speaks.

Loki allows Sunrise to lead him to the bed and sits down cautiously while Sunrise sits next to him, resting her head gently against his shoulder.

"My father died in a boating accident. We used to go out every year on my birthday and do something fun together. When I was 13, he took me trail riding. When I was 19, he decided to take me canoeing on the Atlantic for the day. It was too windy to be on the water in such a small canoe. We shouldn't have been out there at all, but my dad and I were both a little too carefree.

"Our canoe capsized after a few hours. We were both exhausted from rowing. I can't remember everything, but there was something in the water. My dad kept shouting something, but I couldn't hear him. I must have passed out, because the next thing I remember is waking up next to the shoreline." Sunrise pauses for a moment, letting Loki soak in all the information she had just dumped on him.

"A couple found me an hour later on the beach and called 911. They went out in boats and found the canoe. They also found my daddy's body. He died, and I can't even remember what happened," Sunrise laments, her nose burning again as tears fill her eyes.

This time, she is unable to hold them back and the tears cascade down her cheeks, gathering on her chin and dripping onto her chest. Loki pulls her in close and rests his chin on her hair. Sunrise turns into Loki's chest and cries, letting Loki's shirt soak up her tears. Lupa makes her presence known as she nuzzles against her mistress' leg, whimpering quietly.

Sunrise sucks in a deep, ragged breath and pulls away from Loki, drying her eyes. She stares at the damp spot on Loki's shirt for a second before standing abruptly.

"I'm sorry," she murmurs, gesturing to the damp spot. "I've gotten your shirt wet and acted like an idiot. Sorry…"

Loki shakes his head, "Don't apologize for feeling, Sunrise. It's pointless and annoying."

Sunrise forces a weak, brief smile. She wipes away her tears roughly and sniffs loudly before managing a slightly more believable smile—emphasis on the slightly. Loki stands, staring down at Sunrise before deciding to make her smile more genuine.

"Something tells me you won't be up to doing anything for a while, so I'm going to go and burn down your house attempting to make you some food."

Sunrise stares at him for a moment before grinning slightly. "Don't you dare. I'll have you know that I am very attached to this house and would be very upset if you were to burn it down."

"Then I suppose you will have to supervise me, Lady Sunrise," Loki retorts, grinning cheekily at her.

Sunrise actually manages a laugh at that, a huff of air followed by a breathlessly brief chuckle. She shakes her head and follows the grinning god of mischief into her kitchen. After watching him open the fridge and stare blankly at its contents for a moment, she takes pity on him and brushes him aside, pulling some leftover noodles out.

Now it is Loki's turn to watch as Sunrise warms the noodles up and dumps them on a couple plates, setting the plates on the table as Loki grabs glasses. The two eat in silence, both processing the stories that had spilled out of the other earlier that day.

After dinner, Sunrise hands Loki a piece of cake and coaches him through the song 'Happy Birthday'—something that Loki had apparently never heard before to Sunrise's mock horror. Once Loki is done praising Sunrise's cooking ability—even going so far as to bow mockingly to her, causing the woman to laugh a little too loudly—she sends him out of the kitchen.

Sunrise walks out to see Loki relaxing back on the bed, his hands resting on his chest as his eyes follow Sunrise to his side. She kneels next to him and stares at his chin, unwilling to look the god in the eyes.

"Thank you for listening to me today; not many people are willing to do that for someone that they don't know very well," Sunrise whispers, as though afraid that speaking too loud would cause Loki to become angry.

Loki stands suddenly, only to kneel in front of a startled Sunrise and grab her face with both his hands on either cheek.

"We may not have known each other for very long, but I can now say in all certainty that you know more about me than anyone else, save, possibly, for my own mother. Even before today, you have shown me more kindness than most and for that I thank you."

Sunrise smiles weakly at Loki and leans in to give him a hug, stretching on her tiptoes to rest her chin on his shoulder and stare at the wall behind him. This time, Loki hugs her back, holding her tightly against him.

When they part, Sunrise stares at the floor and slips past Loki to go to her own bedroom for the night. Just before she leaves the room, she musters up the courage to turn back and say, "Good night, Loki."

Loki replies in kind and watches as Sunrise turns off the lights and disappears down the darkened hallway.

 **AN: So sorry for the late update! I had no internet connection and then I got sick :( On another note, next chapter is going to be full of excitement! We're going to meet some men who are far too fond of spandex for their own good! :) I hope you enjoyed and don't forget to review! Please! :)**


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